Apple and Google are facing a new antitrust investigation from their longtime rival, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
This time, the CMA questions the power of the tech giants in the mobile market. After a year-long investigation, they published their final report (opens in a new tab) on the UK government's website, where anyone can read it for free. The report is over 350 pages. If you prefer something more digestible, the CMA has also released a shorter version (opens in a new tab) that addresses all the key points.
No official inquiry or inquiry has been announced. The CMA is still in the planning and consultation stages on how to proceed.
Strangulation
The CMA says that Apple and Google are too big and is concerned that this "duopoly" is not conducive to competition. According to the report, the two companies have an effective "strike" in the UK mobile phone markets, which includes "operating systems, app stores and web browsers...".
CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli says that because of their overwhelming presence, Apple and Google have made it difficult for UK tech companies to compete with them and are limiting consumer choice. The CMA says that 97% "of all mobile web browsing in the UK in 2021" was done using Apple's or Google's respective browsing engines.
Apple forces developers to use its WebKit browser engine, which the CMA fears could deter developers from building a faster engine and better browsers on Apple's platform. You can get another browser on an iPhone, like Google's Chrome, but it also runs WebKit.
Anti-competitive practices
Apple, in particular, should receive additional attention in the proposed investigation. The CMA claims, for example, that Apple's ban on cloud gaming in its App Store is also anti-competitive.
He plans to use his proposed investigation to decide which areas under Apple's control should be cut and how to do it. This could involve legal orders to force the change.
The consultation period for the survey will end on July 22. From there, the CMA will decide whether or not to add this particular investigation on top of those already facing Apple and Google.
If you want to know more about the antitrust investigations, Microsoft is also in trouble with its own cloud business.